The Illusion of Not Enough Time

You’re a busy professional or executive. You’re paid well for your knowledge and abilities. You work long hours and a lot is expected of you.

You find yourself in one of two camps:

You have made eating healthy and exercise a priority and you have time blocked off in the week to take care of yourself.

You’re too busy and you don’t have enough time to eat well or exercise.

What’s the difference between the scenarios above?

We all have the same 24 hours in a day.

Everything we do is a choice. Every choice we make is our own. No one else is responsible for the choices we make.

What makes us different is how we choose to spend and manage our time.

Priorities

When someone says, “I just don’t have the time to work out”, or, “I’m too busy at work to eat” a little part of me inside wants to scream.

These are statements of priorities and we can change what’s important at any time.

For example, I have sacrificed a lot financially to create what I want with my independent business, but I have also chosen to prioritize my quality of life. For me that includes spending quality time fostering my relationship with my partner, our dog, my friends, my health, and my peace of mind.

Balance

There is no such thing as work and life balance.

There is only the life that you have. There is never balance, there is only a balancing act.

Every day, every week, every year we prioritize different things. There are only so many things we can do in one day and there’s only so much attention we can give to a task at one time.

Balancing all the aspects of your life is like an old-school stereo equalizer. At some points in life your focus on health may be less important than your career. It’s important to be aware of this choice and to have an eye to the near future for when you intend to “re-balance” your priorities.

Time Is What We Focus On

It’s not true that we don’t have enough time. That’s an excuse for the choices we’ve made that are now creating tension in our life.

All things are not equal — we need to focus on some areas of life more than others. Later on we need to shift focus when life gets out of balance. And repeat…

Change doesn’t start until you make it OK to start.

Want to exercise more?

You have to tell yourself it’s OK to spend time on yourself exercising.

Want to eat healthier during the day to feel awake, energized and be mentally sharp?

You have to decide it’s OK to prepare meals the night before and bring them to work, or have a meal delivery service.

Know how you are spending your time. Look for gaps or openings, the “times” you can claim for yourself. You have to decide how to schedule your own life.

What’s Most Important in Life?

If you want to continue to succeed and thrive in your career as a busy professional or executive, you need to make your health and fitness a priority.

Look for efficiencies to make this easier. You know that you can’t go “all or nothing” because you’re already busy enough with work. Get a copy of my free guide and cheat sheet for easy solutions to improving your health as a busy professional.

You may be very skilful in your career, but if you don’t have self-mastery in the areas of health and fitness your mortality will be brief.

Your single biggest responsibility in life is your well-being.

If you’re sick, tired, overweight, or unwell not only will this affect your career, but you’ll be miserable. Anyone close to you will suffer as a result of your unhappiness and ill-health.

Collectively – as a society – we need to take more responsibility for our health so that we can thrive as human beings before business or career.

There’s no magic pill for “not enough time” – both are illusions. There’s only the self-awareness of choice and taking different actions than before.